Tower Hamlets Spring Open- Scale and Place

Mile End Art Pavilion 
 Selected by Rise Art and ALISN

Artists Reception: Wednesday 28 March 6-9pm
Exhibition Continues: 30 March - 7 April
Gallery Open: Mon-Fri 2-6pm, Sat-Sun 12-6pm

Tom Estes | Felicity Hammond | Rab Harling | Brian D Hodgson | Thorsten Knaub | Gina Lundy | Patrick Morrissey | Minou Norouzi | Emer O'Brien | Daniel Shanken | Rachel Wilberforce | Mary Yacoob

For the second annual Tower Hamlets Spring Open, ALISN and Rise Art invited artists from around the world to submit work addressing the title themes of 'Scale and Place'. The resulting exhibition is a varied commentary on the sweeping size of the unusual exhibition venue and its place within the socially and visually complex borough of Tower Hamlets. Taken as a representative sample from the large and diverse set of submitted responses, the work of twelve artists both indicts and revels in the cacophony of the host borough. From the literal to the abstract, from the serious to the humorous, viewpoints and commentaries emerge on living conditions, architectural and social scapes, regeneration and degeneration, and the many other dynamic possibilities and limitations of a-place-apart.



For Tom Estes ‘fantasy’ and ‘illusion’ are not a contradiction of reality, but instead an integral part of our everyday lives. 'There is a real Peter Pan Syndrome at play in my work and I suppose I would consider myself a carnival sideshow conceptualist, combining a bare-bones formal conceptualism with an eternally adolescent, DIY comic-prank approach. I try to do this with wit and economy and by paraphrasing early Sci-fi and horror films and their associated ideological fictions.' In his performance, Night Cleaning, the artist sets up four large international ‘cleaning in progress signs’ and mops the floor while wearing a pair of pyjamas. By asking members of the audience to take pictures of the performance, they become not only involved with the performance but part of the Live Art action. The pictures of the performance and the audience participation will be published on social networking sites for another online audience to view. 

 Thousands of artists live and work in the London borough of Tower Hamlets. It is home to many galleries, artist-run spaces and familiar cultural hubs such as Brick Lane and the Whitechapel Art Gallery. For a second year, the Mile End Art Pavilion is playing host to new art competition - The Tower Hamlets Spring Open. For this year's exhibition, twelve exciting artists have been selected from a large number of international applications.Once again, the organisers, together with Latitudinal Cuisine, invite you to dine with the winning artists and curators among the art works in the Pavilion. Come and join us for the second annual Eat with Art.Latitudinal Cuisine is a social networking platform based on the sharing of culture through food. For this event, participants are asked to each prepare and bring a dish (enough for 4) and drink At the lunch all guests will be given the opportunity to present their contribution to the gathering, and then to share in this wonderful co-created feast. The theme of the evening is to find the artists among you and find out from them about the artworks in the exhibition. The artists will be hiding dispersed among the guests and it will be up to you to hunt them out! But it's April Fool's Day, so keep your eyes peeled and don't believe everything you hear!